page_title: Alcohol abuse
section_title: Societal and economic costs
hierarchical_section_title: Alcohol abuse / Societal and economic costs
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this photo on a driving trip to Ladakh in 2010.
context_page_description: Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-related crimes.
  Alcohol abuse was a psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-IV, and has been merged with alcohol dependence into alcohol use disorder in the DSM-5.
  Globally, alcohol consumption is the seventh leading risk factor for both death and the burden of disease and injury. In short, except for tobacco, alcohol accounts for a higher burden of disease than any other drug. Alcohol use is a major cause of preventable liver disease worldwide, and alcoholic liver disease is the main alcohol-related chronic medical illness. Millions of men and women of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly, engage in unhealthy drinking in the United States. Alcohol use disorder reportedly most often affects young men of lower socioeconomic status.
context_section_description: Alcohol abuse is associated with many accidents, fights, and offences, including criminal. Alcohol is responsible in the world for 1.8 million deaths and results in disability in approximately 58.3 million people. Approximately 40 percent of the 58.3 million people disabled through alcohol abuse are disabled due to alcohol-related neuropsychiatric disorders. Alcohol abuse is highly associated with adolescent suicide. Adolescents who abuse alcohol are 17 times more likely to commit suicide than adolescents who don't drink. Additionally, alcohol abuse increases the risk of individuals either experiencing or perpetrating sexual violence. Alcohol availability and consumption  rates and alcohol rates are positively associated with violent crimes, through specifics differ between particular countries and cultures.
caption: "After Whisky Driving Risky." Safety roadsign in Ladakh, India
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